10 Most Disastrous Wrestling Debuts Ever

10. Lord Tensai

Lord Tensai was WWE’s attempt to reboot Matt Bloom following a highly-productive seven-year run over in Japan. Having previously wrestled for the company as Albert and A-Train, “Tensai” was WWE’s shot at cashing-in on Bloom’s success as AJPW and NJPW’s Giant Bernard, a character that had seen him gain significant success as a dominant gaijin wrestler.

Tensai debuted on an April 2012 episode of Raw following two weeks’ of vignettes and build-up, but nobody cared. His appearance failed to garner even the faintest of murmurs from the crowd, and it was clear from the moment he stepped in the ring that Tensai wasn’t going to be taken seriously. The fans chanted “ALBERT!” mockingly at him throughout his debut against Alex Riley, and as the match reached its closing stages, they were singing Daniel Bryan’s name.

Originally set to be built as WWE’s next monster heel, Tensai enjoyed big wins over John Cena and CM Punk early in his run, but WWE abandoned the push as soon as they realised nobody was interested. Tensai’s run became a turgid mess, and in just a few months, Tensai had gone from WWE’s intended next big thing to Brodus Clay’s comedy dancing sidekick.